


life after death

by kelway17



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Children of Earth Fix-It, Multi, immortal-ish Ianto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-04-05 15:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 8,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4184319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelway17/pseuds/kelway17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto wakes in a room full of the dead from the 456's virus. he makes his way home and life continues</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. awakening

**Author's Note:**

> sorry it's probably terrible so I'll apologize in advance!

As he woke the last few years flashed before his eyes; joining torchwood one, meeting Lisa, Canary Wharf, had all flashed through his mind in seconds. His thoughts slowed as he relived his return to Cardiff and how he had come to work for torchwood three, Lisa’s death played on his mind for only a short time as he was flooded with memories of his friends Owen, Tosh and Gwen and of course there was jack the man he was fairly sure he loved. He was starting to gain consciousness as he finally remembered how close Tosh and Owen had come to dying {Owen to dying a second time} at the hands of Grey and as he opened his eyes Ianto remembered the last few days, the reason he was awakening in unfamiliar surroundings.

His brain now starting to work logically was telling him he couldn’t possibly have survived the deadly virus, and he was working through all possible causes of his survival. He deducted using Occam’s razor that jack had once again saved his life, giving him some of his life force in the kiss {it had happened before when Lisa had attacked him!}, unbeknownst to jack he presumed as he was currently alone in a dark room filled with the remains of those who had not been so lucky.

Now he had a reasonable idea of what had happened his first thoughts were of finding his way home. He stretched and rose to his feet, his legs were like jelly but he assumed that was normal considering that he had been dead five minutes ago. Edging towards the door he was careful not to step on anybody out of respect for the dead. He was glad to find the door unlocked and unguarded, after all who would guard the dead, even if they had died of an alien virus.

He had been walking around for half an hour before a guard found him and dragged him off to be interrogated on how he broke into a top secret unit base. He was left in a small room with a table four chairs and a tape recorder to await the arrival of Brigadier Walker. Walker was a quiet but strict man in his late thirties and he was one of few people at unit with whom jack was close friends with as such, he had met Ianto a few times and recognised him straight away on entering the room.

“Ianto, but, but that’s impossible you are dead! I saw with my own eyes as they carried your lifeless body to the storeroom! Jack was in pieces.” Walker stuttered as he all but collapsed into his chair in shock.

“Brigadier, I woke up three quarters of an hour ago, and have been wondering around trying to work out where I was until that private found me. I will answer your questions later but first can someone please tell Jack that I am fine. I can’t bear the thought of him grieving for me while I sit and get interrogated. Plus I’m sure he’ll have some questions of his own, quicker to answer them all at once.”

Walker agreed so while he made the necessary arrangements Ianto went to have a shower and change into some clothes he hadn’t died in.

He waited patiently in the small interrogation room for what seemed like hours until the clatter of two pairs of boots and the quieter clicking of two pairs of high heels neared the door. A few moments later Walker entered followed by his colleges Owen, Tosh and Gwen all looking confused but thrilled to see him. Tosh and Gwen were first to shake the shock and ran to hug him and make sure he was ok. After a few minutes Owen pulled them away muttering “ok, ok put the tea boy down he’s only just revived from the dead let’s not smother him and undo that miracle.” Then he clapped Ianto on the back and said he was glad he was ok just loud enough for Ianto to hear but nobody else.

He could tell they had noticed his regular glances at the door as they told him about how Jacks grandson had died and they had defeated the 456, not that he was really listening to them. 

Clearing her throat to get his attention Gwen said “He’s coming sweetheart. He was in the middle of a phone call mediating between unit and the pm, he tried to request a break in proceedings but they were adamant on finishing the discussion first.”

“And he'll probably break every speed limit on the drive here, if his reaction to the news was anything to go on.” Tosh added soothingly.

At that moment the thump of sprinting boots started and became louder by the second until the door swung open.


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto would never have thought until that moment that he could be so pleased to see Jacks face. He waited patiently as the other man entered the room and circled him cautiously, looking for any sign that there was anything wrong or misplaced, presumably to make sure this was not some kind of sick joke. 

After circling Ianto twice seemingly satisfied that everything was normal {well as normal as thing got for them.} a huge grin broke onto his face as he shoved Ianto against the wall and kissed him murmuring “Don’t ever do that to me again!” 

“Technically, this whole scenario is mostly your fault, the dying part I will concede the blame is split 50/50 between us but for the reviving I hold you entirely accountable. So it’s out of my hands sir.” Replied Ianto with a grin, punctuating the each sentence with a quick kiss. 

Owens sneered “get a room.” Reminded them where they were and they pulled apart reluctantly but keeping their hand entwined neither wanting to lose the comforting presence of the other.

“I love you” Jack whispered as he led Ianto towards the interview table. “Let’s get this over with shall we!?” he continued loud enough for the others to hear.

Jack and Ianto sat hand in hand on one side of the table facing Gwen and Brigadier Walker, Tosh was perched on the end of the table and Owen was leaning casually against the nearest wall. 

Before they started questioning Ianto the Brigadier stated that this was an official interview and while the others present may ask questions, this was not a friendly chat and as such all feelings were to be kept out of it as much as possible.

The interview lasted for three and a half hours and seemed to mainly be a rotation of the questions “how the hell did you survive?” and “if you had some kind of antidote why did you let all those people die?” to which he replied the same thing each time; “Jack saved my life, but I don’t for certain how. I was a bit preoccupied dying at the time!” and “weren’t you listening? I don’t know how I survived so how could I save them!” by the end of the interview Brigadier Walker and Ianto where both at the end of their respective tethers, the Brigadiers voice was getting angrier and louder with each question his hands fisted so tightly his knuckles were turning white, Ianto was on the brink of losing control of his calm exterior and starting to snap every now and then. 

Brigadier Walker only believed Ianto after having attached him to a lie detector machine and asked him all the questions for what seemed like the thousandth time. But he still sent him to have some blood taken for testing against the disease. 

“Well that wasn’t so bad.” Said tosh quietly as they sat down in a booth in some London coffee shop, “at least they let you leave.” She gave Ianto a small smile.

“yeah, it only took three and a half hours in an interview room, an hour in the medical bay and two hours arguing with the head of the Unit base, piece of bloody cake!” snorted Owen. 

They sat and drank their coffee in relative silence until it suddenly dawned on him, “Has anybody told my family I’m alive?” he asked suddenly.

“I was waiting to be certain, I didn’t want to have to tell them it was a false alarm. If you have the number we can call them and let them know immediately” Jack soothed as they made their way to the SUV.

Ianto opened his mouth as if to reply, only to gasp for air, his legs were giving way and he couldn’t breathe, his eyes glazed over and he was shivering and clammy. They all gathered around him as he collapsed unconscious. Only for Owen to shoo them away snapping that Ianto needed space to breathe.


	3. Chapter 3

As his eyes opened again he saw three sets of concerned eyes on him belonging to Gwen, Tosh and Jack who were pacing, while a stressed looking Owen was scanning and testing Ianto for anything and everything he could think of. 

After asking Ianto some questions about how he felt and what had just happened, Owen seemed to draw a conclusion. He went over and had a whispered conversation with Jack who nodded a few times and looked no less worried but a different worried if that was even possible.

“Ok, well tea boy needs to know and I might as well tell the rest of you at the same time because you’ll pester me till I tell you anyway” stated the doctor in a faux calm voice. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

After an echo of “good” from all of the team he continued, “The good news, it would appear that whatever Jack did has taught Ianto’s immune system how to fight of the disease just to the point where it won’t kill him! The bad news the antidote doesn’t exist for another two centuries and he will continue to have the symptoms of this until we find one.”

“So Ianto will collapse at unknown intervals for the rest of his life if we don’t find one? Are there any other symptoms?” asked Tosh quietly.

“It looks that way, and as for symptoms I really don’t know. I have never seen anything like it before.”Owen replied. “Sorry mate but you’re off field work and should stay away from sharp objects and anything which could do any damage if you collapse with it, doctors orders. Plus wear this it will monitor your vitals.” 

Ianto grumbled a bit but conceded that Owen was right. Tosh handed him the monitor after setting it to text the nearest team member and Owen if anything was unusual.

“Do you want to contact your family to let them know you are alive now? We will be on the road for a while before we arrive at Cardiff, but you can use my mobile if you’d rather not wait.” Asked Gwen patting his arm in a way she seemed to think would comfort him.

“Yes, Gwen, are you sure you don’t mind” he replied still a little subdued from Owens diagnosis.

“Don’t be daft!” she muttered fondly as she passed him the phone, which he quickly dialled his sister’s phone number and passed to Tosh saying that his sister wouldn’t like being phoned by a ghost. 

They all listened quietly to Tosh’s side of the conversation as she explained what had happened and what the implications were before passing the phone back to Ianto.

“Hi Rhi ……………. I can’t promise that ……………………….. I’m sorry I scared you ………………………… I’m fine I promise ………………… Owen will find a cure; he’s the best doctor I know ………………… yes he knows I’m alive …………………. I’ll introduce you I promise …………………yeah he is here ……….. No he’s driving best not …………….. no problem I understand ………………… I love you too bye” he hangs up the phone with a smile on his face.

They arrive in Cardiff a few hours later smiling and laughing as they enter the hub, Owen pretty much dragging Ianto to the medical bay for more blood samples and tests. 

Gwen and Tosh leave an hour later for the night just as Owen tell Ianto he can go. Owen stays behind to run the tests as the other four head to dinner and then to their respective flats for the night, after a long stressful day.


	4. Chapter 4

When he arrived at the hub the next morning, Ianto noted that Owen was still there and by the looks of things hadn’t been home that night. The doctor was wandering around the medical bay fiddling with machines and muttering to himself. When he spotted Ianto he called out “Tea boy, I think I may have found something but I need a few more samples.”

“Good morning to you too Owen,” Ianto deadpanned “what have you found?”

“Jacks called a meeting in half an hour to fill everyone in I’ll tell you then. By then I’ll have the test results anyway.” Owen replied distractedly and went back to his mumbling.

Thirty minutes later when everyone was gathered at the conference table Owen explained “ My tests confirmed that whatever jack did has slightly changed Iantos’ immune system, giving him the ability to fight off a deadly virus to the point of survival but not curing the symptoms! There at this moment in time is no antidote and it is hard to tell which of the mutations are the disease and which are whatever Jack did. As such creating an antidote will be very difficult, but I think I may be able to recreate Jacks restorative Capability on a smaller scale given a bit of experimentation.” 

“A smaller scale?” enquired Tosh.

“Yeah, the idea is it will make him recover quicker but there could be side effects of not dying but if I’m right I should be able to maintain the ageing process and as such he would still die of old age eventually if nothing else.”Owen answered distractedly still doing calculations in his head

“Wouldn’t we be able to use this on all the field agents to decrease the alarming number who die before their thirtieth birthday?” Gwen asked, delighted by the prospect.

“Not necessarily, like I said it may be a side effect but I’m not certain I can replicate the coming back from the dead bit, but we could use it to cure injuries and illnesses a lot bloody faster. But until I have done some experiments it is all speculative.” Owen replied before all but running back to the medical bay to continue his research.

Two hours after the meeting had finished Rhys turned up at the tourist office with the pretence of bringing everyone lunch, although really he just wanted to be sure Gwen’s flirty boss hadn’t made a pass at her since his boyfriend died. As such he was surprised to see a very much alive Ianto sitting in the tourist office concentrating hard on the computer in front of him.

“But you’re dead.” Rhys exclaimed. “How are you here?”

“I woke up! This is torchwood stranger things have happed. Owen and Suzie were both revived by alien artefacts, although granted Owen more successfully than Suzie, and Jack has died at least fifty times since I have known him and he’s still wandering around the place. It’s not so unusual then again what is usual about torchwood.” Ianto deadpanned. As he opened the secret door and lead Rhys into the hub.

Just as the cog door rolled open alarms blaring Owen and tosh both received a text warning them that Iantos vital signs had taken a sudden and dramatic change. 

Seconds after the door opened Ianto collapsed again, Owen rushed over to check he was alright and once he was convinced he and Rhys carried him to the nearby sofa where Owen gave him a proper examination. 

“He’s fine” Owen told a very worried looking tosh. “He will wake up in a few minutes confused and groggy wondering what the hell happened but there is nothing I can do but make him rest until I have finished my research.”

“Is anybody going to tell me what the bloody hell is going on?” grumbled Rhys in frustration.


	5. Chapter 5

Over lunch everything was explained to Rhys and Owen explained that he had finished creating the cure and was doing a few tests on a sick weevil to check it won’t do Ianto any harm and check for any side effects.

“…. Of course we can’t be certain it will react the same to the tea boy than the weevil but it should give us a vague idea, if nothing else what to look out for. I’m going to inject the weevil in ten minutes and we will monitor it for a week, see what happens. If it works then it should have recovered from its injuries by then. Once we are sure it won’t harm tea boy, I’ll inject him and after a few hours, a few days I’m not sure which, he should be good as new, scrap that better than bloody new.”

Two weeks passed without too many incidents, although Ianto was getting a bit aggravated by being watched constantly and being on light duties was not helping. The weevil recovered within a space of three hours and had shown no side effects to the injection and it still appeared to be ageing at normal speed according to Owen.

At the morning meeting exactly two weeks and three days after the weevil was injected Owen explained “right at some point today I’m going to inject tea boy with the cure, hopefully he will have the same reaction as the weevil, none, but I want him under observation for a few weeks just encase with a check up every few days. Any questions?”

“If it works can I use my coffee machine again without someone hovering right behind me? I’m getting a bit claustrophobic!” queried Ianto.

“Once I am happy it has worked and not had any debilitating side effects of its own, you can run away to a deserted island for all I care but until then you are first and foremost my patient and as such you will remain under observation as long as I deem it necessary.” the doctor snapped. 

Barely two hours later, Ianto was sat in the medical bay being injected with the cure and a sedative so he would be unconscious as it worked.

“Why did you sedate him it’s not going to hurt that much is it?” exclaimed Gwen anxiously.

“No! It won’t hurt but I need to monitor him for a few hours and I’d bet anything if I didn’t he’d be itching to get back to work, and making my job a lot harder in the process.” Replied the doctor calmly as he fiddled with the monitoring equipment. 

Over the course of the next few hours Owen was starting to get irritated by all of his colleagues cluttering up his medical bay watching for anything going wrong. 

“As far as I can see, its worked the virus which was in his blood stream would appear to be gone and he should wake up any minute now.” The doctor exclaimed victoriously putting down his scanning equipment and smiling five hours after injecting Ianto.


	6. Chapter 6

He awoke to Tosh’s voice presumably on the phone he guessed because otherwise she was having a heated debate with an imaginary friend, or quite possibly a mute as he had yet to open his eyes, his head felt groggy but apart from that he felt better that he had in the weeks since the children started talking in unison.

When she noticed that Ianto was awake she said into the phone “wait a minute he’s just woken up!” turning to him she continued. “ hey Ianto how are you feeling?”

“I feel worlds better” he smiled at the quiet techie, “how long was I asleep? Did I miss anything?”

“That’s great news I’ll go get Owen in a minute to check everything is normal just in case though. You have been asleep for about six hours give or take, I told Owen I’d watch you for a bit so he could get some rest he’s been working late every night for the last two weeks at least, he didn’t like it but I didn’t give him much choice though I promised to wake him as soon as you woke up or if there were any changes.” She explained quickly but in her usual quiet tone. “And no you didn’t miss much, the rift has been behaving for once only one weevil sighting in Splott which Jack has gone to check out and Gwen has gone home!” she stopped to catch her breath before adding “oh and your sister is on the phone, I answered it because it hasn’t stopped ring for the last half an hour and you’ve had at least thirty texts, I have explained you didn’t answer because you were sedated for medical reasons. Do you want to speak to her?”

“Yes I’ll talk to her while you go and get Owen; I think I may need him to explain a bit of what’s happening to her so she doesn’t panic that I was so ill I needed sedating!” Ianto deadpanned.

Tosh handed him the phone and walked off quickly to find Owen who was asleep on the sofa, and quietly informed him that ianto was now awake and on the phone to his sister.

Meanwhile 

“Hey Rhi.” muttered the tired tea boy.

“You sound like shit, are you ok?” worried Rhiannon immediately going into mother hen mode.

“You phoned me to tell me that?” he queried jokingly before turning serious and saying “I’m fine Rhi, I feel a million per cent better than I have since I woke up after themes house! I’m just a bit groggy; I’ve only been conscious ten minutes. If that!”

“Lazy sod, it half past eight in the evening.” She joked back then continued slightly agitated “And no, I didn’t phone to tell you you sound like death warmed up, I was worried about you first you were dead then you weren’t dead but ill and now I have no idea. You haven’t phoned me once since you told me you weren’t dead. I’ve already lost you once this year so don’t you be thinking you will get away with all this aloof nonsense. You are coming to dinner next Wednesday and that’s an order! Bring this boyfriend of yours if you like I’m dying to meet him.”

“I’m sorry, I have been busy and ill, but I will try to see more of you and the kids. And I promise we will be there on Wednesday.” Ianto apologized feeling genuinely contrite. Then turned to Owen and tosh asking owen to explain to his sister the procedure he had just had.


	7. Chapter 7

By Wednesday evening Ianto was exhausted, it was his own fault as Owen didn’t fail to mention every five minutes. He had pointedly ignored Owen telling him he needed to rest as his whole immune system was changing but he was restless so spent the last four days reorganising the archives with Owen ‘helping’ for an excuse to monitor him. 

Jack was under orders to call Owen the minute anything seemed even slightly wrong with Ianto, on pain of death, but he gave permission for them to travel the short distance to Rhiannon’s estate house. So that is where they were headed.

As Jack drove, Ianto fiddled with a bottle of wine he had bought for his sister for something to do with his hands. 

“Are you ok? You seem a bit twitchy.” Jack asked concern enveloping his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine just about to see my sister for the first time since I died and just to make it more interesting I’m introducing her to my boyfriend for the first time as well. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Much more stressful than the narrowly avoided end of the world a few weeks ago.” Jack ginned as he pulled the car up next to a slightly weathered house. And they both laughed as they approached the front door and knocked on the door.

A dark haired woman came flying out the door and flings her arms around Iantos neck within milliseconds of the knock, she is smiling but there are tears in her eyes. But tears of joy at seeing her brother, alive and well if a bit pale.

“Going to introduce me?” she asks playfully grinning from ear to ear as she releases her brother and looking him over. “are you sure you are recovered enough to be out and about you look like a ghost you’re so pale.”

“Captain Jack Harkness, pleased to meet you. Our doctor gave him the all clear but I’m to call him if Yan deteriorates at all on pain of death.” He grinned and turned to Ianto and asked jokingly “You and doctor harper seem to have gotten much closer since you died, should I be worried.”

Ianto just rolled his eyes at him.

As they entered the lounge two small figures pounced him and he laughed.

“Why did mam tell us you were dead uncle Yan?” asked Mica sounding confused and worried.

He and Rhiannon had decided it was best the kids not be told about his condition until they were older so he said solemnly “ I was very ill in hospital and they must have had a mix up because they told Rhi I was dead. I’m surprised she didn’t have a heart attack when she got a phone call from a ghost!”

Both Mica and David giggled at this then hugged him one more time before returning to the TV program they had been watching.


	8. Chapter 8

“Johnny will be home in about half an hour and dinner will be ready in forty five minutes.” Rhiannon told them as they sat down on the sofa with a cup of coffee which jack noted was not a patch on Iantos. She sent the kids upstairs to play in their rooms until dinner was ready and started her interrogation of Jack. “So how did you two meet then?”

“After what happened in London, your brother basically stalked me trying to get a job.” Jack laughed as Ianto looked away and blushed.

“He didn’t!”She exclaimed shock evident on her face. “Really though?” she asked staring at Ianto like he had grown a second head.

“I was desperate! Lisa was dying and it was the only place with the information and resources to save her.” He explained sadly.

“I take it you didn’t save her then, as you are sat here with your boyfriend.” She stated in a slightly teasing but still somewhat sympathetic voice.

“No, she just went on the rampage and killed two innocents as well as almost killing Ianto and attempting to kill the rest of the team as well.” Jack told her guessing from her demeanour that she wouldn’t stop until she got answers.

“Ok, so if you went there for Lisa, how did you end up with Jack?” she queried.

“We were sleeping together, no strings attached for a long while.” Jack started.

“It took him doing a disappearing act for our relationship to progress” Ianto continued.

“I said I was sorry.” Muttered jack before continuing “while I was away I realized how much I cared for Ianto and when I came back I asked him on a proper date.”

“Never seen him so nervous!” laughed Ianto.

“By the time he died we were practically living together.” Jack finished.

“Well if I didn’t believe it until now, I can definitely see you are a couple you finish each others sentences like an old married couple.” Rhiannon giggled.

They were interrupted at this moment by Johnny appearing in the room, “gay boy and this must be the other half!” called out the rather dense man good naturedly.

“Johnny this is Jack.” Ianto introduced them while jack tried to figure out if Ianto had just been insulted or not. 

Rhiannon continued her interrogation until the kids came down for dinner.

The meal was nice but nothing to rave about and in general the atmosphere was good every now and then turning a bit frosty when jack perceived something Johnny said to be meant as an insult to Ianto. 

After dinner they all vacated the kitchen and sat in the lounge chatting about this that ant the other until about twenty minutes after the kids had gone to bed, Ianto started to drift off to sleep on Jacks shoulder. At which point Jack turned to Rhiannon and said quietly “we should probably be going, he’s still in recovery and needs to rest or else Owen will kill me.”

Without further ado he woke Ianto and after a long hug from his sister and promising to see her again soon Ianto collapsed into the car and promptly fell asleep again as Jack drove them quickly back to the hub.


	9. Chapter 9

Thursday morning jack awoke to find Owen peering down the manhole to his cell like bedroom under his office. He had overslept having unplugged the alarm clock the night before so it didn’t wake Ianto the next morning. Ianto had been so shattered jack had decided to carry him into the hub bridal style which he shifted to a fireman’s lift for the ladder down to the bedroom so as not to have to wake the exhausted man.

“Afternoon, Jack.” Owen muttered jokingly “He is going to kill you when he wakes up for letting him sleep so late!”

“it’s not that late Owen and you’re the one that insisted he needed rest so I unplugged the alarm, he was so exhausted when we got back last night.” Jack replied a dead serious look moulded on his face.

Three and a quarter hours later at two thirty pm Ianto awoke to find himself alone in Jacks bed with no memory of getting back to the hub at all.

He was barely out of Jacks office for a minute before he was summoned by Owen to the medical bay.

“How do you feel this morning?” asked Owen already prepping the equipment for blood sample analysis. “Do I have to kill jack for neglecting to take into account your requirement of rest?”

“I’m alright just tired.” Replied Ianto, exhaustion clear in his voice. “Anyway he’s like a spring he always bounces back no point killing him. That just adds clean up Jacks blood to my list of jobs for the day!”

“Oh no you don’t!” exclaimed the doctor forcefully having taken all of the readings he needed. “You are having the day off, somewhere out of the hub where you won’t be tempted to just do this quickly or just finish that.”

“And where exactly am I meant to go? I don’t have a flat anymore since my lease was made void when I died!” snapped Ianto.

At that moment Jack walked in laughing “I see dying hasn’t made you any more of a morning person.” Then after a few minutes silence, only penetrated by a slightly annoyed but more fond growl from Ianto, he continued “why don’t you go back to your sisters for the day she is desperate to see more of you and I’m sure she was trying to convince you to go there this evening anyway because she has your mum and brother there today for a visit if I remember rightly. Give her mine or Owens mobile numbers encase of an emergency but it’ll do you good. Being under observation for weeks has made you really grouchy.” 

Half an hour later he was sat in the passenger seat of his car as Jack gave him a lift to his sister’s house, he was still not allowed to operate heavy machinery much to his chagrin, so Jack had offered him a lift. 

Seeing Ianto in the sunlight Jack realized how much paler he was than the day before his condition while improving rapidly was easily pushed back by lack of sleep and over exertion which were two of Iantos favourite things. He would have to ask Iantos sister to make sure he rested as much as possible before he went back to the hub he noted mentally as they knocked on the door.


	10. Chapter 10

“Twice in one week, it’s a miracle!” exclaimed Rhiannon as she opened the door. Then taking in her brothers appearance her voice changed to a worried coo “oh my god Ianto! Are you ok? You look a million times worse than last night.”

“His recovery has been slightly pushed back thanks to exertion and lack of sleep, two of Yan’s favourite things. So he has to rest doctor’s orders.” Jack answered her question before saying his goodbyes and heading back to the hub.

Rhiannon lead Ianto into her small living room which was currently occupied by his brother Aeron and Johnny chatting about some sport or other animatedly.

When they spotted them enter the lounge Aeron said “Yan, are you ok you look like death warmed up?” at the same time as Johnny said “gay boy you look like shit!” 

“I’m fine just over tired.” Ianto replied quietly sitting down.

Aeron was giving Johnny a questioning look for ten minutes before Ianto realized what his brother in law had said when he arrived. “aeron there’s someone I want you to meet while you’re in town.”

“So I have to hear through a friend who saw you and you just tell him.” Rhiannon snapped jokingly.

“If I don’t tell him Johnny will! Technically he already has.” Ianto defended himself.

“Is anybody going to tell me what the hell is going on?” yelled a frustrated Aeron

“Yan wants you to meet his partner Jack while you are in town.” Explained Rhiannon “what about mum are you going to tell her?” she queried.

“I don’t know! Where is she anyway I thought she was travelling down with you?” Ianto replied looking in his brothers general direction trying to gage his reaction.

“No, she’s driving herself. Her car broke down on the way but she’ll be here in time for dinner.”Rhiannon replied for him.

Ianto fell asleep on the sofa not long after that exhausted from the effort of maintaining the conversation. He woke to the sound of his mother crying next to his ear and the voices of his siblings trying to calm her, the kids were calling him and tugging at his sleeves and Johnny was in the background laughing hysterically.

“What’s going on?” he asked groggily slowly opening his eyes to the chaos filled room. 

“I got called out here after hours because you fell asleep, tea boy.” Snapped Owen grumpily from the corner of the room. “I was supposed to have a date with Tosh.”

“I’m sorry Owen, but I’m sure tosh won’t mind you being a bit late.” Ianto replied. “How long was I asleep? it must have been a while if you called the doctor!”

“Only three hours but we couldn’t wake you for love nor money.” Aeron told him still comforting their mother.

“Only thing that will wake him is his phone.” a familiar American accent said from the doorway.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> apologies to Narshia (anil495) for this chapter but it is intergral to the story!

Owen and jack were invited to join the joneses for dinner, which they did before returning to the hub with Ianto. 

Two weeks later Ianto was back on field duty, much to his pleasure.

A rift alert interrupted a quiet afternoon in the hub at four pm.

“Tosh what is it?” inquired jack as the techie typed at an inhumane rate on her laptop.

“I don’t know but there are two of them and they are moving in opposite directions!” replied tosh after a few seconds.

Jack and Tosh trailed one while Owen, Gwen and Ianto tailed the other.

Jack and Tosh found their alien first an as yet unidentified species which they could not identify. When it saw them it immediately went for Tosh so jack shot it without a second thought and they dragged it back to the suv to wait for the others after warning them it could be dangerous assuming it was the same species as the creature that attacked Tosh.

Meanwhile Owen, Gwen and Ianto had traced their creature to an abandoned factory and had each taken a door hoping to surround and capture the creature as quickly as possible. This plan fell to pieces when they found that the whole building was like a maze of creates each advanced towards the middle of the room trying to look everywhere at once. 

Ianto found the creature first, well actually to be truthful it found Ianto first and leapt down from its hiding place and went straight for his neck, his yell of pain echoed around the room for ages and it was still going when Gwen and Owen found him lying on the floor in a pool of blood unmoving. 

Hearing a noise behind him Owen spotted the creature and shot it knowing it was clearly not friendly. Turning back to Ianto he saw signs of a scuffle but the alien was bigger and stronger it was no shock that the tea boy couldn’t fend it off.

He left Gwen with the alien as he carried Ianto to the suv then returned with a distraught Jack to get the alien. 

When they got back to the hub the aliens where put out of the way while Ianto was taken to the medical bay.

“Well now we find out how well that cure will work!” said Owen as they all sat with the body praying he would revive as they watched his lacerations heal.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry Its a very short part

Three hours passed and though there was no longer a wound to see, Ianto still had not awoken. The entire team was distressed and unsure how much longer they should wait before accepting his death.

“But Owen said the side effects would include reviving!” yelled Gwen for the third time when Tosh suggested moving him.

“I said they could include reviving.” The doctor shot back, followed by a stream of curses under his breath.

The shouting match that followed was interrupted by a gasp of air from the medical bay.

Tosh being closest to the bay got to Ianto first he was looking petrified, but then again so did Owen when they brought him back.

“I died didn’t I?” Ianto asked in a subdued voice after seeing the relief in his friend’s faces.

“Yeah, but at least we found out that reviving is one of the side effects and that you have reset to perfect health.” Owen told him “you are in better health than before you died and if I do some more tests I could probably edit it so tosh and Gwen can beat the odds and live to over thirty five.”

“What about you?” Gwen Inquired.

“It’s injected into the blood stream.” Replied Tosh.

At Gwen’s clueless look Ianto elaborated “Owen is dead! His heart is not beating, so his blood is not moving around his veins. It can’t work on him unless we can get his heart beating first.”

“Which would be too risky until we are sure it will work on him as we don’t know how his altered physiology will react!” finished Jack.


	13. Chapter 13

After a week of work editing the formula to work with Tosh and Gwen's DNA, Owen injected them both as soon as they arrived at half past seven and had them stay in the medical bay for the rest of the day to keep an eye on them. his theory was that as they where both in perfect health it should take within twenty four hours. 

The sole problem was that Jack and Ianto were the only ones able to go out if there was any rift activity. 

Sods law being in full force on that day the two of them were run off their feet. Their day started with Two large weevils rampaging through Bute park at three Am, which was of course very popular. it took the pair of them two hours to catch and subdue both of them though since it was still early it didn't take more than three quarters of an hour to get them back to the hub and in the cells. 

At half past six the rift alert went off showing activity in Splott. Ianto had to go on this one alone as Owen was already in doing last minute checks and calculations of dosage, far too busy plus he was supposedly off field duty as any injuries he got were irreparable, and Jack was in the middle of a phone call to the head of a unit base near by.

He was lucky really, it was just a piece of broken tech, not quite so lucky in the pact that a passer by picked it up and took it home. it had taken a lot of negotiating to get it back but as it hadn't caused any damage and didn't take too long, he was counting it as a success.

At quarter to eight a gang of Blowfish came through the rift. By this point Gwen and Tosh were confined to the medical bay with Owen keeping an eye on them for any problems, but luckily Jack had finished his phone call and so he and Ianto went out chasing aliens for the second time that morning.

They spent four hours trying to track them down, finally finding the blowfish in a small art museum where there was only one exit, in which they were located. From there it was easy enough to capture them and get them back to the hub and into the cells.

The whole team gathered for lunch in the main hub at one Pm, where Tosh explained what she had found out about the tech Ianto had found earlier.

They were in and out all afternoon and all night. 

"What the hell is up with the Weevils today?" yelled Owen from the medical bay when Jack dragged in the sixth weevil since lunch.

"I don't know but I wish they would stop for a few hours!" exclaimed Ianto collapsing in a chair "we have been up since three and it's approaching three again now."

At half passed four Owen declared Tosh and Gwen free to go and Jack sent everyone home five minutes later telling Ianto that unless there was an emergency he had the morning off to catch up on the sleep he'd missed the last twenty four hours.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the irregular posting of chapters my laptop has been playing up!

After a few months with the rift behaving its self and only mild injuries to everybody bar Owen, who was in the hub trying to figure out if he could use his formula to revive him or shorten Jacks eternal life, the doctor had made little progress on Jack but he was starting to believe he may be able to edit it to his own unique physiology.

Jack wondered down to the medical bay to see how the medic was getting on and found him muttering to himself about using the life support system as well as the edited formula to be able to inject it into a circulating bloodstream.

"how are you getting on?" he inquired of the medic.

Owen jumped as he was brought out of his revelry. "fucking hell Jack you almost gave me a heart attack!" yelled the acerbic doctor. "oh wait I'm already dead." he continued his voice oozing sarcasm.

He then preceded to give a twenty five minute lecture on how he could edit the formula to work with his physiology as long as he could get the blood circulating. he explained that he would have to be sedated at the time and that they would need somebody with a medical background to over see the whole thing because if something went wrong they didn't know how his body would react no longer being entirely human, or in any way alive.

"I'll call Martha, see if she will come down and assist, she know the most about your condition. well apart from you that is!" Jack told him once he managed to get a word in edge ways. 

He called Martha later that day with the whole team hovering in his office listening to his end of the conversation praying she agreed to help.

"Martha, we need your help, ...... we need a doctor to treat Owen, ........ He will explain everything once you get here, .................... ok thank you see you next Sunday."

He grinned as he put down the phone "she said that if she can help she will but she not entirely convinced that you will react the same as your average human to treatments"

"I already knew that and took it in to account" Grumbled Owen as he stomped back to the medical bay.


	15. Chapter 15

Within twenty minutes of Martha's arrival Owen was sedated and attached to life support. 

three hours later Martha took off the life support to find that all the monitors showed him to be alive. he was still out of it but everyone was so happy.

"I'm starving." grumbled Owen as he cam back to consciousness, and then it hit him "I'm starving, do you know what that means I'm alive." he yelled the happiest the team had ever heard him.

He leaped up to his feet picked up Matha and spun her round thanking her, then told jack he was taking his lunch break grabbed Tosh by the arm and dragged her out of the hub saying "I promised you a date! Feel like having lunch with me?"

"I'd love to," Tosh giggled as they got into Owens car.

meanwhile in the hub....

"Thank the lord that worked, he would have been devastated if it hadn't." Grinned Jack.

"do I need to sort the reports for this?" asked Ianto coming into the main hub from the archives.

"I'm fairly sure we don't have a form for undead doctors being returned to fully alive status." laughed Gwen

"Oh you would be surprised!" Laughed Jack and Ianto in unison.


	16. Chapter 16

Tosh and Owen were gone for a good two hours but when they arrived at the hub the happiness radiating from the pair of them was contagious. They had spent a lovely two hours walking down the bay and through the park eating fish and chips as they went, it didn't take Owen long to realize that he and Toshiko really clicked and that he had wasted so much time overlooking her because of her quiet nature and his own aversion to commitment which he knew stemmed from losing Katie, he had avoided commitment to protect himself from further heartbreak. By the time they got back they were already planning their second date. The rest of that day was extraordinarily quiet and the next rift prediction was not for two days, as such the team, who where all in the mood to celebrate stayed at the hub for only about ten minutes after they arrived back before heading to a bar for a drink. 

Over the following four months things got into a pretty good routine even with the few near ends to the world as they knew it.Owen had continued to try and reverse engineer his formula to give jack the normal life he wanted but other than that everything was back to normal, well if you excepted the fact that Jack was practically living with Ianto whose near death experience or really if you think about it his real death experience had pushed Jack to realize their relationship was more important to him than he had originally been willing to admit even to himself, Gwen who was pregnant and as such off field work and going out of her mind with boredom from all the paperwork she was now doing instead, and Owen who was now alive and aloud back into the field.

It was another few weeks until Owen finally had a break through but as always it needed developing considerably before he could risk the well being of their captain, he roped in Tosh to help and they got to work straight away flicking through medical literature and sending Ianto up and down to the archives to fetch and carry this and that. Many hours were spent the next few weeks with Gwen roped in to watch experiments, as she was the only one constantly at the base, while the others where in and out on tech retrievals and blow fish being thrown everywhere b the rift. 

The weevils where again more active than usual, which was cause for concern as more of the public where having to be retconned and in worse cases taken to hospital. It took almost a week and a half investigating before they found out the problem and dealt with it. The cause had been an alien family of a species unknown to Jack or Torchwood, which where quite aggressive, They killed Jack twice and Tosh once while causing significant injuries to Owen and Ianto all of which healed within the hour, luckily they managed to surround and subdue these creatures and put them in the cells until they knew what to do with them.


	17. Chapter 17

It took Owen just under a year to be sure his new serum would work to give jack a normal life span, not that it meant there were no risks, With him not knowing for certain what parts of Jacks DNA were different because of the incident on satellite five and what was just natural evolution in the next three thousand years until will have been born. “God time travel plays havoc with grammar” Owen had grumbled when he was working it all out with Tosh.

In the meantime, Gwen and rhys had had their first child a little girl called Arwen and was expecting a son in about four months time, she was off field duty because of this and getting extremely restless, Jack had suggested she help Ianto with the archives to help alleviate her boredom, but the welsh man had banished her within the hour complaining to jack that she was hindering his work and giving him more to do going over everything she had done wrong correcting it. 

Tosh and Owen had been dating for about a year and Owen had just proposed to her about a week before at a fancy French restraint on the sea front, Tosh was bouncing around like a giddy teenager, and spending all her spare time cornering Owen and Ianto (who she had roped in as wedding planner due to his amazing organizational skills) to plan all aspects of the wedding, between them, Owen and tosh had decided on a winter wedding in the hope of snow.

Jack was currently passed out in the medical bay with Owen poking and prodding him with needles and other medical equipment. Unfortunately they would not know if it had worked until he started showing signs of aging. He woke up a few hours later looking and feeling exactly the same as before but they would all just have to wait and see…


End file.
